Separating solids from liquids



June 112, 1923.

H. C. MILLER SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM LIQUIDS j INVENTOR. 10mg C. m

Filed' Nov. 6, 1922 m m i.

BY 3..2/ v ATTORNEYS;

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Application filed November e, 192%. Serial Ito. 599,4lb.

To all whom it may com-m:

Be it known that l[, HAROLD C. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residin at Bakersfield, in the county of Kern and i tate 5 of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Separatin Solids from Liquids, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the separating art,

and particularly to a separation dependent upon a difference in specific gravity and s0- lidity existing between the components of the aggregate.

My inventionis especially adapted for the to separation of solid matter from liquids, and is particularly intended for the separatlon of sand, minerals and other heavy particles and cuttings from mud-laden water, slimes and other liquids, especially from the mudladen water used in drilling wells, to the end that the water may be re-used, in which latter connection, for the sake of example, I shall herein describe it.

In the drilling of wells it is customary to pump mud-laden water down through the drilling device into the bottom of the hole, to remove from the drilling bit the sand and rock cuttings torn off by the bit, the mudladen water with the sand and cuttings and 39 other heavy components returning to the surface outside the drilling mechanism. This laden liquid is, at the surface, relieved of its solid particles and the mud-liquid is returned to the drilling stem.

this separation in a simple and efficient manner, and to this end my invention consists in the novel method and apparatus which ll shall now fully describe by reference m to the accompanying drawings in which the figure is an elevation, sectioned and broken in parts, of said apparatus.

4 1 is a pipe which leads from the source of su ply of the aggregate to be separated, 5, say, i dr example, the mud-water contain ng the sand, cuttings, etc., from the well being drilled. i

'2 is a hopperinto which the supply pipe 1 discharges, said hopper having the outlet 3 53) provided with a check valve 4:-

' 5 is the member in which the separation is efiected. It consists 0% an elongated vessel inclosing what may be termed an attenuated, coed chamber. This separating It is the object of my invention to efiect' vessel is mounted at an angle to the horizontal and is supported upon a trunnion 6 and a ack 7, by means of which the angle of sa d vessel may be varied and adjusted to suit. The outlet 3 of the hopper 2 leads lntdo the separating vessel 5 near its lower on Leading from the. lower cross sectional area of the lower end of the separating vessel 5 is a discharge pipe 8, having a flexible oint or section 9, so that the delivery end of said pipe which discharges into a launder 10, may be raised or lowered at will which ad uStment is assisted .by a counterbalance connection 11, carried b a frame 12.

The separating vesse 5 has at its upper end an outlet 13 which delivers into a launder 14, and within the vessel adjacent to and in advance of the outlet 13 is a baifie plate 15 to assist in cleaning the overflow of sand and other heavy particles.

16 is an air-compressor or blower driven by a motor 17. F ro'm the air compressor a pipe 18, with a control valve 19, leads into the lower end of the separating vessel 5, and is fitted with a nozzle 20, lying within the vessel. This nozzle is formed with a foraminous discharge face 21 lying at an angle to and directed towards the upper cross sectional area of the separating vessel, and at its lower end it is fitted with an uprising directing bafile 22. At 23 is indicated a clean-out connection in the discharge pipe 8.

The method carried out in the apparatus is as follows :-The mud-laden liquid containing sand, cuttings, and other solids is continuously delivered from the pipe l'into the hopper 2, from which by gravity it flows through the hopper outlet 3 into and fills the separating vessel 5 to its capacity. Air under pressure slightly higher than that of the static head of the mud-liquid in the vessel 5, is supplied to said vessel through the pipe 18 from the compressor 16, the air entering said vedsel in numerous jets through the perforated face 21 of the nozzle 20, and rising verticall directly from said face in a plural tv o relatively small bubbles. These in rising combine into successive large bubbles which follow each other at intervals, and this succession or procession of lar e bubbles then proceeds up the incline of t e separating vessel in the upper cross sectional area thereof, each bubble assuming a shape resembling the letter V with its base foremost. As they proceed towards the upper end of the separating vessel the mud laden liquid is rolled about them, as it were, being forced to move down and back and around the apex of the bubble and up again over it. This occurs many times before a bubble finally reaches the outlet at the upper end of the separating vessel, and it is this rolling action, accompanied by thepulsating effect of the procession of bubbles that forces the sand and heavier particles to drop into the lower cross sectional area of the vessel. Pulsating currents are thus built up causing a concentration of the heavier particles, which migrate towards the lower end of the separating vessel by gravity, while the cleaned mud liquid flows over the bafiie 15 .at the upper end of the vessel and out through the outlet 13, and is then ready to be re-circulated through the well. The c0l1- centrated heavier particles together with some liquid pass out from the lower "end of the separating vessel through the pipe {3, and by raising or lowerin the end of this pipe, the amount of liquid discharge'd with the heavier particles can be regulated. In this apparatus there are no moving parts and the rates of flow, percentage of cuts and the like can be entirely governed by the size of the equipment, pressure and volume of the air, the angularity of the separating ves- Lamaze sel and the vertical adjustmentv of the jets of air into the lower end of said vessel.

2. The method of separating solids from liquids comprising continuously supplying the aggregate to an inclined'confined chamber to its capacity; continuously introducing air into the lower end of the" chamber in such wise as to form a procession of air bubbles traveling in the upper cross sectional area of the chamber towards the upper end thereof, whereby a succession of pulsating currents are created tending to settle the solid components; continuously delivering the greater volume of the liquid from the up per end of the chamber; and regulating the continuous discharge of the lesser volume of said liquid together with the solids from the lower end of said chamber.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HAROLD o. MILLER, 

